Friday, April 25, 2008

Nuclear Fear

If we fight a war and win it with H-bombs, what history will remember is notthe ideals we were fighting for but the methods we used to accomplish them.These methods will be compared to the warfare of Genghis Khan who ruthlesslykilled every last inhabitant of Persia.

Hans A. Bethe (link)As Matt points out, Hillary is threatening to do exactly that. Had John McCain made such a threat, it would be held up by Democrats everywhere as evidence of his recklessness and aggressiveness, and rightly so. Why should we not hold Democratic contenders to this same standard? Juan Cole, like me, is outraged.It is fortunate that the eventuality that she describes seems exceedingly unlikely. It seems that Iran has abandoned there nuclear program at about the time we invaded Iraq (the program was likely aimed more at deterring Saddam than at Israel). Even if Iran built a nuclear bomb (which would take over a decade), they would not use it on Israel, knowing full well that Israel could destroy Iran if they launched such an attack.Senator Clinton's comments show either an ignorance or willful misunderstanding of both of the situation in the mideast and the doctrine of deterrence. Shameful.(Posted by Ewan)